Always here

Chapter //THIRTY TWO//

Camelia's POV

They're coming, they're coming!

My breaths came out short and uneven as I sped through the darkness, hands blindly spread out in front of me. The footfalls behind grew louder with each step I took, and I sped up even more, afraid to turn back. To turn back and-

A scream tore its way up my throat as a several hands grabbed my ankles, pulling me down to the ground. I kicked and screamed and kicked and screamed, but it was useless. The hands were crawling up my legs and now at my hips. I let out another scream.

No no no! I thrashed wildly on the ground, everything around me in complete blackness. I tried to push the hands away from my body, but couldn't.

A death grip.

No! I screamed and fought harder, sweat pouring off me.

"Get away from me! G-get away!" I shouted and kicked my legs out in all directions, hands flailing in the air desperately. If there was light, my eyes would have been crazed.

The hands crept up my waist and to my neck, the trail they left on my skin burning. They reached my neck and wrapped around it, cutting off my air supply.

No! NO! N-

My eyes snapped open. I looked down to my neck.

No hands?

I breathed in slowly, trying to catch my breath. Had that been a dream?

I could still feel the hands wrapped around my throat, the thought of it making me shiver in disgust and fear. I rubbed at the skin on my neck, trying to get rid of the grimy feeling I felt.

My body shook violently, as if uncontrolled. Fragments of the past flitted into my mind, haunting me and driving me crazy. I grabbed my hair in frustration, trying to stop the onslaught of voices and memories.

"Stop," I begged, my hands clenched tightly. "Stop."

Did they stop? No. The voices became louder and louder that I could literally feel their hands on me again. I resisted the urge to throw up and pulled on my hair again, eyes no doubt crazed with desperation.

Hands. On me. Touching. Strangling. I screamed again and buried myself deeper into the bed beneath me, trying to melt into the material and hide away from the past. My past.

Two warm hands were on mine instantly, and I struggled even more. "No!" I yelled and tried to push them away from me. "Stop! STOP!" I pleaded, but the hands kept on touching mine. "Please."

The hands stilled as the word left my mouth. Just one simple word, but it definitely held all the sincerity and desperation that I had poured into it. Slowly, I felt the hands leave me and sighed in relief.

"Lia." My name was just a whisper, but it was enough.

Uncertain, I opened my eyes slowly, unsure of what to expect. I gasped softly.

"Xavier?" Was that really him? He was here with me?

"Yes." he replied without hesitation, as if answering my unspoken question. The reassurance behind his one-word reply gave me greater comfort than I could have imagined. He was here. With me.

With a small whimper, I threw myself at him. He caught me with ease, his large arms coming around my body protectively and I soaked up the safety that I was feeling when I was with him. In his arms. I muttered his name continuously under my breath like a prayer, hoping it would protect me from them. My fingers pressed tightly around his arms while my face was in his chest, deeply inhaling his scent which comforted me to no end. He was like my safe haven where I could just relax and let my guard down, not needing to worry about them coming to get me. I shivered in fear and hugged him tighter. "My safe haven," I whispered to myself, but apparently he had heard me.